SNOW WHITE (2025) - Mark Reviews Movies

Snow White, Walt Disney Studios

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | March 20, 2025

If Disney insists on remaking all of their beloved animated films into live-action (or, in the case of a few that rely heavily on computer animation instead of the hand-drawn variety, "live-action") productions, one would hope they could be as spirited, bright, and charming as Snow White. Yes, the studio has finally gotten around to remaking its first animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. That film was a revolutionary cinematic moment when it premiered in 1937, became (and, because of several re-releases, still remains) a box-office phenomenon, and has endured for almost nine decades, as both a great distillation of fairy-tale storytelling and the template for a sizeable number of the studio's animated-feature output.

Director Marc Webb's new version mostly keeps the story intact and, thankfully, simple. Where it diverges from the source material—both the animated original and the Brothers Grimm story—is to make this Snow White more than a mere princess waiting for her prince to come, avoiding the murderous intentions of her wicked stepmother, and letting a man and seven dwarfs do all of the hard work for the little plot there is.

This Snow White, played by Rachel Zegler in a performance that confirms she should and likely will be a star one day, is everything the animated character was and just a bit more. Mainly, she's more active in her own story, which is something we should want from a protagonist in general and specifically in a fantasy story about an evil queen, an oppressive kingdom, and a fight to restore kindness and decency to the land. Sure, some of that stuff is new to Erin Cressida Wilson's screenplay, but it was surely between the lines of the '37 film, if one gives it a second thought. The filmmakers deserve some credit for actually giving it.

The setup, then, remains the same, including a literal storybook opening, but is a bit expanded. We learn of Snow White's birth on a snowy day to a kindly queen and king, how happy and prosperous the kingdom was under their rule, the sudden death of the queen, and the king's own apparent demise after falling under the spell of his second wife and going to war with a neighboring land.

The most significant addition to the prologue is a big musical number, which is staged and shot like a Broadway production on real sets and with real actors in the chorus. Webb uses visual effects liberally here, mainly to create Snow White's cartoony animal friends and the dwarfs (whom we'll get to later). It is, however, refreshing to see one of these live-action remakes rely on, well, real people and sets to create its world, instead of counting on the effects team to do the heavy lifting.

Any further plot summary seems unnecessary, since we all know the tale of how the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot, putting a lot into a performance that becomes about how much she's putting into it) becomes jealous when her magic mirror says her stepdaughter is fairer than she is. Snow White escapes an attempted murder, flees through a dark and scary forest, and comes out the other side at a cottage, which is the home of seven dwarfs who mine for the kingdom's wealth of gems.

Again, the dwarfs are computer creations, who overcome the early Uncanny Valley effect of their appearance by being actual characters within the story. The personality of each of the seven is mostly defined by his name, of course, like the habit of Sneezy (voice of Jason Kravits) to sneeze, the way Bashful (voice of Tituss Burgess) is shy, and how darn happy Happy (voice of George Salazar) is. An expanded rendition of "Heigh-Ho" has some fun incorporating those names/qualities into the rhymes, while letting the dwarfs go on a roller-coaster ride of a day at work in the mine. The presence of that song, along with "Whistle While You Work," is a reminder that the new tunes here aren't quite up to snuff. A jaunty exception is one in which Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), the bandit "prince" who leads a rogue theatrical troupe in this iteration, sarcastically sings about Snow White's "princess problems."

The plot eventually has higher stakes than anything in the original film, as Snow White and her crew of outcasts decide to stop the Evil Queen, but for the most part, Webb and Wilson stay as relaxed and unhurried as the animated film. The filmmakers understand that the simplicity of storytelling in the '37 film was one of its key strengths, so as it builds toward that final showdown, this film revels in its smaller pleasures.

It's about the songs, Snow White's unflappable kindness, the bold personalities of the dwarfs, and the world surrounding them. Not many actresses could play a Disney Princess with utter and believable sincerity, but Zegler does, which is a feat unto itself. The dwarfs really are impressively crafted digital creations, especially in how finely tuned their facial expressions can be. Still, they are characters first and foremost, with gentle leader Doc (voice of Jeremy Swift), an unexpectedly sympathetic Grumpy (voice of Martin Klebba), and the sweetly timid Dopey (voice of Andrew Barth Feldman), who's arguably the richest and most endearing character in the film, as standouts.

All of those qualities easily outweigh any shortcomings Snow White may possess. The film succeeds because it feels like a fairy tale come to life—adapting but not copying its animated source material, evolving but not subverting the story, truly believing that there is a kind of magic in telling a simple story well and with a genuine heart.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products

Buy the Soundtrack (Digital Download)